Another trip
north to the big city of Minneapolis. We're going to a cool club
called
First Avenue. This is my first time at First Avenue. On the
outside, it's pretty unassuming. The iPad ads are bigger than the
place itself. It got its name from the fact that it's on... First
Avenue.

Across the
street is O'Donovan's Irish Pub. I wasn't planning on going there but the statement
about naked waitresses flirting with ME had a pretty strong pull.

On the other
side of the intersection people disembarked from this strange
contraption called a Pedal Pub.
Apparently it is powered by a brewed type of bio-fuel. If I were to
use one of these things, it would have to pull along a port-a-potty.

A few stars
have played here. Some are so famous that even I've heard of them!

But I
digress. This is what we're here for.

We finally
made it inside. After going the high-tech route of ordering tickets
online and printing them out so we wouldn't have to mess with
will-call, the computer refused them and the system had to be
rebooted. Instead of making us wait, they kindly waived us on in.

Since we were
the first in line, the place was pretty empty. This bar was decorated with strings of lights.

In the corner
was a little shop selling Yann paraphernalia. It was run by a really
nice guy from Scotland who put up with me telling him: "Oh, I've been
to Glasgow. We loved Edinburgh. Have you been to Sandy Bell's? We drove to Inverness
and..... blah blah blah"

A
well-stocked cooler glowed in the subdued lighting.

The restroom
was bright in the early evening light. At least they covered up the lower
part of the windows so I didn't feel quite so out in the open.

Levers were
pulled and knobs were
twiddled.

Upstairs was
a very modern bar.

From the
front stage I looked back.

One of the
members of the band worked with the staff on the hundreds of
controls.

Behind the
screen the instruments waited patiently.

The well-lit
stairs were decorated.

Hmmmm...
maybe it's time to get up front and settle down for the show.

People were
starting to congeal at the edge of the stage. It looks like they're
at church—going up to the front rail and kneeling to take communion.

First up was
a band called Felix.
English singer-songwriter Lucinda Chua joined with two members of Tiersen's band. Her song "Blessing" is featured
in a superb short film by
Andrew Telling.

Chua's airy
voice was carried along with her gentle chords on the piano.

After Felix
finished we tried to wait patiently while a stage hand tested the
instruments and setup. Finally Yann
and his band of music makers came out and went to work.....

This is the
end, my friend. After an
encore the music was over. Glaring
lights came on and the crowd—never to be together again for all of
eternity—suddenly broke up and evaporated.

Besides
memories and photographs, we will have a new CD to listen to.

Out into
the real world. The big friendly iPad lit up the evening.

The pub and
its waitresses still exerted their pull, so I read the fine print.
The sign says "The NAKED truth about our WAITRESSES is that they
only FLIRT WITH YOU to get a better tip." Damn! One should always read the
fine print. Or, maybe not.